Concrete-mixer.



G. F. LANCASTER.

CONCRETE MIXER.

APPLICATION FILED 00127, 1 9;3.

Patented June 30,1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPM GIL-WASHINGTON, n. C.

0.1. LANCASTER.

CONCRETE MIXER. I APPLIOATION FILED 00127, 1913.

Patented June 30, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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G. F. LANCASTER.

CONCRETE MIXER. APPLICATION FILED 00127, 1913.

Patented June 30', 191i 4 SHEETSSHBET 3.

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COLUMBIA ,I'LANOGIAPN :0" WASHINGTON. D. c.

G. F. LANCASTER.

CONCRETE MIXER.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 27, 1913 Patented June 30, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

MJLL'MBIA PLANOOIAPH UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GHARLES F. LANCASTER, 0F BAY CITY, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-TI-IIRTIETH TO WILLIAM A. WILDER, ONE-THIRTIETH TO DAVID WILGOX, AND ONE-THIRTIETH TO ANDREW M. SHAW, ALL OF BAY CITY, MICHIGAN.

CONCRETE-MIXER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 30, 1914..

Application filed October 27, 1913. Serial No. 797,587.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Crmnnns F. LANCAS- TER, citizen of the United States, residing at Bay City, in the county of Bay and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Concrete-Mixers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to concrete mixers, and has for its object the provision of a com pact apparatus by the use of which sand and cement may b mechanically fed into a hopper in any desired proportions and there intimately commingled and fed toward the discharge end of the hopper.

The invention also seeks to provide means whereby the mixing operation may be readily controlled, and a still further object of the invention is to provide novel means for performing the mixing.

Other incidental objects of the invention will appear as the description of the same proceeds, and the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter first fully described and then more particularly pointed out in the claims following the description.

The invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings; in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a mixing apparatus embodying my improvements; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, the elevator or feeding mechanism being omitted from both Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 3 is an end elevation with part of the feeding mechanism in section; Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section of the mixing trough looking toward the discharge end of the same; Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the'elevator; Fig. 6 is a vertical section; of the same; Fig. 7 is a detail. perspective view of one of the arms secured to the main shaft within the mixing trough.

In carrying out my invention, I employ a supporting frame 1 which may be of any convenient form and may be mounted upon ground wheels, if so preferred, in order that it may be readily transported from place to place. Upon this frame 1 is secured an en gine 2, the shaft 3 of which extends there from to both sides of the same and is equipped with fly-wheels 4. One end of the engine driving shaft 3 is equipped with a beveled gear 5 which is illustrated as of the friction type, but may, of course, be of any other preferred design. This bevel gear or pinion 5 is adapted to drive a wheel 6 which is oppositely beveled and is secured upon a counter-shaft 7 mounted in suitable bearings 8 upon the frame 1 and extending transversely of the same as clearly shown in Fig. 2. This countershaft is equipped at its front end with a pinion 9 similar to the pinion 5 which is adapted to drive a crank wheel 10 similar in size and form to the gear wheel 6. The counter-shaft is mounted slidably in the bearings 8 and may be shifted therein by means of a lever 11 which is fulcrumed upon the frame adjacent the engine, as indicated at 12, and is loosely connected with a collar or sleeve 13 mounted upon the counter-shaft between the stops or fixed collars 14 thereon. It will be readily understood that when the lever is moved about its fulcrum the collar 13 will impinge against one or the other of the fixed collars 14 and will, consequently, move the shaft in the same direction in which the lever moves. To hold the lever in either set position, pins or similarstops 15 are provided upon a cross bar of the main frame and thelever is moved overiiand allowed to rest against either of said pinsaccordingly as the gears are intended to be in or out of mesh. The crank wheel or disk 10 is secured 'upon the front end of a shaft 16 mounted in suitable bearings upon the main frame and the said crank disk carries a wrist=pin 17 upon which the end of a pitman or connecting rod 18 is pivoted. The opposite end of the said pitman is pivoted to the lower end of a lever 19 which is fulcrumed upon the end of the mixing trough 20 and is formed at or has secured to its upper end a segmental gear 21 which meshes with a pinion 22 on the end of the main shaft 23 extending longitudinally through the mixing trough, as shown. The mixing trough 20 is secured rigidly upon the main frame and may be of any desired dimensions. The shaft 23 is journaled in suitable bearings 24; upon the front and rear ends of the trough and between'said bearings is of an angular cross section, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4.

Arms 25 are secured to and project radially from the said shaft 23, and these arms, together with the shaft, constitute practically a walking beam by which motion is imparted to the mixing shovels and the standards carrying the same. The arms are constructed at their inner ends with angular recesses or sockets 26 adapted to fit against the angular sides of the shaft 23, and perforated ears or lugs 27 extend from the walls of the socket or recess 26 to receive securing bolts 28 so that when the arms are placed against opposite sides of the shaft and the securing bolts are inserted through the abutting lugs or ears the arms will be rigidly clamped to the shaft so that they will move with the shaft. ends the arms 25 are provided with enlargements 29 formed with transverse hooks or grooved members 30, and clamping plates 31 are adapted to be secured to the under sides of the arms at the outer ends thereof by means of bolts 32 inserted through said clamping plates and the enlargements 29 of the arms, as will be readily understood. The hooks or grooved members 80 and the clamping plates 31 engage opposite sides of the rods or beams 33 which are disposed longitudinally of the trough and extend substantially the full length of the same. At intervals along these rods 38 are secured clamps 34 which carry standards 35 having shovels or mixing blades 36 at their lower ends. The standards and mixing blades at the opposite sides of the trough are staggored so that a mixing blade at one side of the trough will be opposite the space between two adjacent blades at the opposite side of thetrough. The blades rest directly upon the inner surface of the trough and are in constant contact therewith and each blade is disposed at an angleto its respective standard so that, as the apparatus is operated, the ingredients within the trough will be worked toward the center of the same, alternately from the opposite sides, and will be gradually fed toward the discharge end of the trough. The standards 35 extend through holders 34 consisting of clamping plates having angular recesses in their opposed faces to engage the opposite angular sides of the standards and clamped to the standards by bolts 36 inserted through external longitudinal flanges of the said members. From the upper ends of the clamping members, lateral arms 37 extend and these arms are equipped at their outer ends with oppositely disposed grooved or concaved rod-engaging jaws 38. These jaws 3S engage the rods or beams 38 so that they will rise and fall with the said rods, but the jaws are adjusted so as to have suflicient play about the rods to permit the shovels to follow the surface of the trough when in operation. It will *be readily understood that the weight of the shovels and the standards tends tohold the shovels against the bottom of the trough and this tendency is aided by the resistance to the shovels offered by the ingredients within the trough.

At their outer Fixed upon the shaft 16 is a beveled. pin ion 89 which is adapted to drive a pinion or gear 4:0 on. the end of a shaft 11 which is mounted in suitable bearings upon the frame and, in the illustrated arrangement, extends longitudinally thereof. This shaft 41 is slidable in its bearings so as to shift the gear 4:0 into or out of engagement with the pinion by a lever 4C2 fulcrumed at 43 upon the frame and engaging a loose collar 4L4: inclosing the shaft ll between fixed collars or stops 4:5, as will be readily understood. Ilpon this shaft 11 is fixed a stepped or cone pulley l6 which may be connected by a belt 47 with a similar pulley 4-8 on the end of a shaft 19 which is jo-urnaled in the elevator frame 50. The stepped or cone pulley 48, it will be readily understood, is disposed reversely to the pulley 46, so that, by shifting the belt 47, the speed of the shaft 19 relative to the shaft 4H may be varied to meet the conditions-under which the machine may be operating. At the end of the shaft 49, remote fro-m the pulley 18, is a sprocket wheel 51 around which is trained a sprocket chain 52, said chain extending up to and around a sprocket wheel on the end of a shaft 54 journaled in and extending through the upper end of the elevator. The elevator, as will be readily understood upon reference to Fig. 5, is constructed in two members, one of which may be used to feed sand into the mixing trough and the other to feed cement into the same. The shaft 5 1 extends transversely through the upper ends of both members of the elevator and upon the said shaft, within the frames of the two members, are sprocket wheels around which chains 56 carrying buckets :37 are trained. The lower portions of the said chains with the buckets carried thereby are trained around sprocket wheels 58 carried by shafts 59 journaled in the lower portions of pockets or bins 60 which are secured to the main frame adjacent the feeding end of by a hollow shaft 62 fitting around the shaft and equipped between the elevator members with a stepped or cone pulley 68, as shown. A belt 6 L is trained around this pulley 63 and a similar but oppositely disposed pulley secured upon the shaft .49 between the elevator members, as shown. It will be readily understood that by shifting the belt 64: upon the said pulleys 63 and 65 the relative speeds of the lifting chains may be varied and, consequently, the

ingredients fed into the trough at different rates and the proportions of the same varied to meet the demands of theparticular usage for whichthe mixture is designed.

It is thought the operation of the improved concrete mixer will be readily under stood from the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawmgs. I

The sand and cement are dumped into the bins or pockets 60 from any main supply and will be carried upward from the said pocket-s or bins by the buckets 57, and, as the said buckets pass over the upper shafts 54: or 62 they will discharge their contents into the trough. As the crank disk 10 rotates, the pitman 18 will be reciprocated and will thereby oscillate the lever 19 so that the segmental gear 21 will impart a rocking movement to the pinion 22. This rocking movement of the pinion 22 will be transmitted directly to the shaft 23 so that the standards 35 with the shovels or mixing blades carried thereby will be alternately raised and lowered upon the bot tom of the trough. As a blade 36 descends or moves downwardly over the bottom of the trough it will push the material toward the discharge end of the trough and also toward the opposite side of the same, and this pushing force of the blade will cause the ingredients to tumble over each other so that they will be commingled. On the upward stroke of the blade it will rise out of the path of the fresh supply of material and the partly mixed ingredients which had been previously acted upon by said blade will then be acted upon by a succeeding blade at the opposite side of the trough. The several ingredients will be, consequently, gradually fed to the discharge end of the trough and will be caused to continually tumble over each other and, as a result, will be intimately mixed so that by the time the material is discharged it will form a homogeneous mass. Water to saturate the mixture and produce the proper consistency of the same may be stored within a tank 66 supported at any convenient point upon the main frame and the discharge end of the trough is partly closed by a transverse plate 67 so that a space below the said plate and the bottom of the trough is left open to permit discharge of the mixture. If so preferred, this opening may be covered by any suitable form of lid or closure so that the mixture may be discharged at intervals instead of being continuously discharged, as will be the case with the construction illustrated in Fig. 4.

The several parts of my apparatus are very simple in their construction and are not apt to get out of order. The walking beam consisting of the rock shaft 23 and the arms 25 extending therefrom is of such a character that it possesses the maximum strength with minimum. weight and will effectually sustain the weight of the longitudinal rods 33 and the standards carried thereby. The said standards are held against rotation about their own longitudinal axes by their own angular formation and the clamps by which they are held so that the mixing blades or shovels-will positively stir and turn over the sand, and cement and will not yield thereto. As the lower edges of the shovels or mixing blades wear away the standards may be easily adjusted throughtheir-holders soas to maintain the blades close to the bottom of the trough and, consequently, there will be no waste of material through the same adhering "to the trough.

What I claim is 1. In a concrete mixer, the combination of a trough, a rock shaft ext-ending longitudinally of the trough, arms rigid with and projecting in diametrically opposite directions from the rock shaft, beams carried by the outer ends of said arms, and mixers hung upon and depending from said beams to reciprocate transversely of the trough.

2. In a concrete mixer, the combination of a trough, a rock shaft extending longitudinally of the trough, arms rigid with and extending in opposite directions from the rock shaft, beams carried by the outer ends of said arms and extending longitudinally of the trough, holders hung upon said beams, and mixers adjustably secured in said holders and depending from the beams to constantly rest upon and reciprocate transversely of the trough,

3. In a concrete mixer, the combination of a trough, a rock shaft mounted longitudinally in the trough, supporting arms rigid with and extending in opposite directions from the rock shaft, beams carried by the outer ends of said arms and extending longitudinally of the trough, holders hung upon said beams, standards secured in said holders in eccentric relation to the beams, and blades carried by the lower ends of said standards and bearing upon the bot-tom of the trough and reciprocating transversely of the same. 1

4. In a concrete mixer, the combination of a trough, a rock shaft disposed longitudinally within the trough, arms rigid with and extending in opposite directions from the rock shaft, beams carried by the outer ends of said arms and extending longitudinally of the trough, clamps having lateral jaws secured upon said beams whereby the clamps are disposed eccentrically of the beams in transverse planes of the trough, standards inserted through and secured in said clamps, mixer blades carried by the lower ends of said standards, and means to rock the shaft whereby the blades will be reciproeated on the bottom of the trough.

5. The combination of a trough, a rock shaft disposed longitudinally in the trough, and longitudinal series of pendent mixers disposed at opposite sides of the rock shaft and connected therewith to be reciprocating thereby in transverse planes of the trough, the planes of operation of one series alternating with the planes of operation of the other series.

6. In a concrete mixer, the combination of a trough, a rock shaft disposed longitudinally therein and having an angular cross section, supporting arms having central angular sockets in their inner ends fitting against the said rock shaft, means for securing the inner meeting ends of said arms together about the rock shaft, clamps at the outer ends of said arms, beams disposed longitudinally of the trough and carried by said clamps, holders hung eccentrically upon the said beams, and mixers secured in said holders.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES F. LANCASTER. Witnesses:

GEORGE H. ROGERS,

J G. Gnovns.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

